Dual element cooling tower



June 1932- N. o. FLEMING 1,864,898

DUAL ELEMENT COOLING TOWER Filed March 1, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 76Norman 2 mm 5y 7/ 67 firToe/vey June 28, 1932.

N. O. FLEMING DUAL ELEMENT COOLING TOWER Fii d March 1, 1950 5Sheets-Sheet 2 June 28, 1932.

N. O. FLEMING DUAL ELEMENT COOLING TOWER Filed March 1, 1930 5Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented June 28, 1932 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE].

NORMAN 0. FLEMING, F PASADENA, CALIFORNIA DUAL ELEMENT COOLING TOWER 1Application filed March 1, 1930. Serial N0. 432,523.

7 In my co-pending application entitled struction 11 positioned thereonprovidinga Cooling tower, filed November 28, 1927, ledge 12 therearound.1 Serial No. 236,173,.1 disclose a rotor posi- Posts 14 extend upward,as indicated-in tioned in a vertical cooling space and rotated Figs. 1and, 2, the space between any four by the dropping thereon of waterdroplets adjacent posts" defining a cooling space" 15. 5 introducedintothe top of this space." The Secured to. the posts 1 1 are horizontalcross present invention relates to a multi-unit @001. members 16, theends of, these members exing tower and to certain novel constructionaltending beyond the end posts 141 in a manner details. to retain aplurality of 'louvres 17 secured It is an object of this invention toprovide thereto and inclined downward, as indicated 0 I a cooling towerhaving two or more rotors in Fig s.1 and 2. These louvres define chanpositioned in adjacent cooling spaces, ad nels 18 therebetween whichcommunicate be: jacent rotors preferably rotated in opposite tween thecooling spaces and theatmosdirections. I phere.

15 Another object of the invention is to pro- In the present invention,I prefer topro 65 vide a novel attaching means for securing one vide anumber of coolingspaces 15 side-by-side or more rotor elements toashaft. in a single row, although several of these Still a furtherobject of the invention is rows may be placed side-by-side if desired.to provide a novel bearing construction for I have found, however, thata'supe'rior cooli I 20 a cooling tower shaft, the upperbe aring beingaction takes place if only a single row of "(0 ing preferably waterlubricated and the lower these cooling spaces is utilized. In thisbearing being protectedjfrom water. event, the end cooling space issurrounded on Another object of the invention is to prothree sidesby'louvres, the intermediate coolvide a novel construction for a rotorelement ing spaces being provided withflouvres on including, among otherfeatures, blades of two sides thereof, theother two sides being 75 novelshape and a novel spacing means for in open communication with theadjacent these blades. cooling spaces. It will be noticed that theFurther objects and advantages of the incross members 16 extend bothlongitudinally vention will be made evident hereinafter. andtransversely of the coolingtowerto give Referring to the drawings, arigid construction thereof. The rigidity of 86 Fig. 1 is a side view,partially in section, of this structure is increased by braces 19, suchthecooling tower of my. invention. as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 2 is asectional view taken on the line Spaced at intervals throughout eachcool- 22 of Fig.1. ingspace 15 are decks 20, as best shown 1n Fig. 3 isa sectional view taken on the line Figs. 2 and 3. These decks are"preferably 85 3-3 of Fig. 1. formed of interspaced slats, and comprise aFig. 4. is a view taken on the line H of longitudinal deck section. '21extending Fig. 3. throughout the length of the cooling tower Fig. 5 isan enlarged sectional view of one and sloping downward toward the center,l of the rotor elements of my invention. thereof, and a surroundingdeck structure 22 9 Fig. 6 is a sectional View taken on the line formedof longitudinally extending slats and 6-6 of Fig. 5. sloping toward thecenter of the cooling Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a split hub takenspace. These decks are preferably supported on the line 7-7 of Fig. 5.on alternate cross members 16, and the slats 4 Fig. 8 is a sectionalview taken on the line thereof may be grooved, as disclosed in my 95 8-8of Fig. 5. co-pencling application for thepurpose of Fig. 9 is asectional view of the lower beardirecting any water dropping thereontoing of my invention. ward a circular opening 24' formed in each In 1tsreferred form .m invention 1s surroundin deck structure 22.

V mounted on a base 10, there being a pan con- Extending transverselyabove the vertical axis of each cooling space 15 is a member 26 adaptedto support a bearing structure 27 in which a vertical shaft 28 isjournaled. The bearing structure 27 is preferably formed of a collar 29surrounding a water-lubricated bearing 30, this hearing being preferablyformed of rubber and enclosed by a sleeve 31 fitting in the collar 29.

The lower end of the shaft 28 is journalled in a thrust bearingstructure 33 which comprises a bearing cup 34 secured to the panconstruction 11 by bolts passing through a flange 35. Positioned in thecup 34 is a selfcentering thrust bearing 36, this bearing beingpreferably of the ball type, as best shown in F i 9,

A sTiaft-retaining member 38 rests on the upper race of the bearing 36and has anopening 39 in which the lower end of the shaft 28 rests, theShaft being retained in this opening by means of a set screw 40. A plate41 loosely surrounds the shaft 28 and covers the top of the cup 34, thiscup being filled with a suitable lubricating medium. To prevent theentrance of Water into this thrust bearing, I provide a water shield 43secured to the'shaft 28 above the thrust bearing structure 33 andextending outward over the cup 34. This water shield deflectstherearound any water falling thereon and thus prevents any entrance ofwater into this cup.

l/Vater is sprayed or otherwise introduced into the upper end of eachcooling space through a pipe 50, the preferred embodiment of myinvention utilizing nozzles 51 for breaking up the water into dropletswhich drop downward through the cooling space and'into the panconstruction 11. lVhen the level of this water reaches the upper edge ofthe ledge 12 water flows thereover and into a suitable drain. It will benoticed that the water shields 43 are positioned above the maximum upperlevel of the water in the pan CQnSt fI Qtion 11 8. is also the upperedge of the cup 34. Thus, the water level can never reach the watershield 43 and can thus not reach the bearing surfaces of the thrusthearing 36'.

During the downward movement of the drops of'water in the cooling space15, these drops come into contact with an upper rotor element 55positioned in the opening 24 of the uppermost deck 20. This rotorelement is so formed that the drops of water impinging thereon cause arotation of the shaft 28. From the uppermost rotor element 55 the waterdrops to the next lower rotor element, also positioned in the opening 24of the next lower deck 20. Here again the water imparts rotary motion tothe rotor element which is transferred to the shaft 28. Any number ofthese elements may be placed one above the other, but in the formillustrated I have shown but three of these elements.

Each of the rotor elements 55 are similarly constructed and the detailsthereof are best illustrated in Figs. 4 to 6 inclusive. Referring tothese figures, a split hub structure 57 surrounds the shaft, thisstructure being preferably formed of two sleeve members 58 havingV-shaped notches 59 therein, the walls of which are adapted to engagethe peripehry of the shaft 28 when the sleeve members are clampedtogether as by bolts 60. Such a split hub construction forms a verysecure attachment between the rotorf'element and the shaft andfacilitates the removal and replacement of these elements.

Secured to a flange 61 formed at the upper end of the hub structure 57are spokes 63 eX- tending radially from ,the shaft 28. Struts 64 extenddiagonally downward in supporting relationship with these spokes and aresecured to the lower end of the hub structure 57 as by bolts 65. v i vExtending between adjacent spokes 63 are braces 67, the upper surface ofthese braces being in the same plane as the upper surface of the spokes63. i i i i l l The space between adjacent spokes 63 is occupied byparallel blades 70, these blades being preferably formed of trapezoidalcrosssection, as best shown in Fig. 4, so as to beinclined upward. Theinner ends of these bladesare suitably secured to the spokes 68,

while the outerends thereof extend beyond the braces 67 and terminate ashort distance from the walls of the opening 24. As best shown in Fig.4, each of these blades is placed so that a surface 71 thereof engagesthe brace 67 thereadjacent, and the shape of theblades is so designedthat a face 72 thereof is sub stantially vertical. The blades 70 arespaced apart by spacing elements 75 which are shaped in the form of aparallelogram. The

size of the spacing elements 75 is so regulated that the vertical face72 of one of the blades 70 lies immediately above the extreme edge of anadjacent blade 70. Furthermore, the upper edge of each blade is rathersharp so that there is no possibility of a drop of water passing throughthe rotor element without exerting a torque thereon. The blade 70 andspacing elements 7 5 are preferably secured to the braces 67 by brassnails 78, as best shown in Fig. 4.

, Regardless of whether or not the water be- 7 ing cooled is used fordriving the rotor elements, the blades. 7 O of these elements tend toset up a downward flow of air therebetween. This air enters the coolingspace 15 through the channel 18 immediately thereabove and is expelledfrom this space after coming into cooling relationship with th e waterthrough the channel 18 thcrebelow. This flow of airis indicated byarrows 79 of Fig. 1 andgcauses a very eflicient cooling of the waterinthe cooling space 15. It should also be apparent that the downwardcurrent of. air passing through any particular rotor element tends toset up an upward flow of air through the horizontally adjacent rotorelement rotating in the adjacent cooling space 15,'as indicated byarrows 79a.

I have found it preferable to inclinethe blade 70 on horizontallyadjacent rotor elements in opposite directions so that the rotorelements in one cooling space rotate opposite to those in the adjacentcooling space. This not only gives a superior cooling action, but alsodamps out any vibrations which might be set up in the framework of thecooling tower and subjects: this framework to smaller stresses thanwould otherwise be the case.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a cooling tower, the combination of: means defining a plurality ofvertical cooling spaces, said cooling spaces being in open communicationwitheach other; a shaft extending upward through each cooling space;

a thrust hearing at the lower end of each shaft and engaging therewithin supporting relationship; a radial bearing for journalling the upperend of each shaft; a rotor element mounted on each shaft; and means foring space; a second rotor element rotatably mounted in a second coolingspace, said cooling spaces being in open communication with each other,said rot-or elements being provided with blades, the blades of saidrotor element being inclined oppositely to corresponding blades of saidsecond rotor element; and water-introducing means for supplying water tothe top of said cooling spaces, said water impinging on said blades indropping through said cooling spaces to rotate said rotor elements inopposite directions.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles,California, this 25th day of February, 1930.

NORMAN O. FLEMING.

introducing water to be cooled into the up per portion of said coolingspaces, said water impinging on said rotor elements to rotate saidshaft.

2. In a cooling tower, the combination of: means defining a plurality ofvertical cooling spaces, said cooling spaces being in open communicationwith each other; a shaft extending upward through each cooling space; athrust bearing at the lower end of each shaft and engaging therewith insupporting relationship a radial bearing for journalling the upper endof each shaft; a rotor element mounted on each shaft; means forintroducing water to be cooled into the upper portion of said coolingspaces, said water lmpinging on said rotor elements to rotate saidshafts; and a water shield mounted on each shaft just above said thrustbearing.

means defining a plurality of vertical cooling spaces, said coolingspaces being in open communication with each other; a shaft extendingupward through each cooling space; a thrust bearing at the lower end ofeach shaft and engaging therewith in supporting relationship; a radialbearing for journalling the upper end of each shaft; a rotor elementmounted on each of said shafts; means for introducing water to be cooledinto the upper portion of said cooling spaces, said water impinging onsaid rotor element to rotate each of said shafts; a water shield mountedon said shaft just above said thrust bearing; and drain means preventingthe water level in the lower end of said cooling space from risingsufficiently to enter said thrust bearings.

t. In a cooling tower, the combination of: a rotor element rotatablymounted in a cool- 3. In a cooling tower, the combination of: v

GERTtFiGATE ore eoeaeenoh. Patent No. 1,864,898. Jtmfi 28, 1932.

NGRMAN o. FLEMING.

the printed specification of the Page 3, time 59, claim Patent shouldthe record of it is hereby certified that error aepears in abovenumbered patent requiring correction as toilows:

e, read each; and that the said Letters 3, for said' first oceurrenc beread with this correction thei'ein that the same may conform to the casein the Patent ()itice.

Signed and sealed this 18th day of October, A. i). 1932.

hi. 3. Moore, Acting Commissioner oi Patents.

(Seat)

